We have a release within a mere 20 days from its birth! Ok, it is not a full album. It is what is called an EP, which is like half an album for the Spotify listeners out there. The band is BECOMING THE LION and this is the creation of guitar player, singer and producer Ross Blomgren from Wisconsin that is releasing his third work Turning Point. His proposal seems to be a polished heavy metal, if this actually exists, and the other members of the band seem to be more like collaborators. “Intentional Liar” starts the EP with an ethereal mood and a heavy bass presence from player Greg Henkin. A nice melody with backing vocals is guided by a discreet heavy guitar leading into a crescendo with touches of epicness. You can’t help notice the extreme care with the production. Nothing is out of place and even the distorted guitar sounds clean.

We follow with the tune “Great Escape” with a little more energy and an interesting syncopated drum tempo by drummer Craig Borcher. The output reminds me of DAUGHTRY or CREED but without the hits. A softer melodic metal with heavy but tamed guitars. Good backing vocals. We pass the halfway point with “Foolish” with another great bass sound following the syncopated drum rhythm. The output is a very melodic and palatable hard rock with good production and with the sound rounded to perfection. No sharp edges and no crazy guitar solos so far. The next one is ‘Stone’s Throw’ and we have some acoustic guitars, a sweet melody and another great bass riff. The band certainly drinks a little from prog bands with the heavy use of keyboards and some exquisite time signatures. The song gets into a crescendo so the distorted guitars  can come in. This is for me the best of the EP so far.

We close our short journey with the song that gives the album its title, “Turning Point”. Another weird time signature but with a little more energy on the bridge and a good chorus. Forget about what I said about the last song, this one seems to be better. The guitar is much more present on this one and a good vocal and backing vocal work. We even get a short, and not much inspired, guitar solo following the melody.

Ok, I have to confess that heavy rock or metal for me is the type of music that bothers some people and I like that aspect of it. So, this kind of output is not my cup of tea. However, I have to acknowledge that there is a huge market for a more palatable hard rock. The songs on this EP are well composed and performed and the production is good, however too clean for my dirty ears. BECOMING THE LION has a good future nevertheless. Perhaps adding fixed band members and showing the power of these songs in a live performance would certainly help. A full album wouldn’t hurt as well.